


Winging It

by HorizonHold



Category: RWBY
Genre: Animorphing with Gay Vibes, Atlas Academy, Birds, Crow Qrow Branwen, Fair Game Week (RWBY), Fair Game Week 2020, Flirting, Fluff, Kingfisher Clover Ebi, M/M, Training, fairgameweek2020, mlm author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23215573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorizonHold/pseuds/HorizonHold
Summary: (Fair Game Week 2020 - Day 4: Birds)After accepting a very special gift from Ozpin, Clover lets Qrow take him under his wing for a little lesson.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81





	Winging It

"So… how does it work?"

Qrow shrugged, mumbling a high and low sound, as if to say  _ "I dunno." _

Clover laughed. "What do you  _ mean—?"  _ he mimicked the same strange noise, but in a questioning tone.

Qrow laughed back. "I just don't! It's always been... natural to me, I guess."

"Well, what about your sister? Doesn't she have a way of doing it?"

_ "Pssh,  _ like she ever tells me anything." Qrow hummed as he mused over the question for a moment. "But, uh… I guess you might be right."

"Then what about you? Just walk me through how you do it."

"I told you, I don't…" Qrow gestured vaguely. "I don't really  _ do  _ anything. I just kinda...  _ want _ to change, and then I  _ do. _ Oz never really explained it to us, either. We just sorta got the hang of it.”

"Alright…" Clover crossed his arms. "Then  _ show _ me."

"Uh… okay."

Qrow took a few slow steps back. The front gates of Atlas Academy were always empty at this time of day, leaving no shortage of elbow room— or wing room— to practice. Lucky for the two of them that their day off coincided with each other’s. Clover watched as Qrow closed his eyes, spread his arms out a little, and took a deep breath.

It happened just as fast as he could blink, so fast that Clover wasn’t sure if he’d even seen it. One moment, he was right there, and the next— gone, with only a single black feather in his wake, fluttering to the ground which he had stood on just a second ago.

“Uh… Qrow..?” Clover hesitated to say. He looked over both shoulders, then up and around him. 

_ Nothing..? _

_. _

_.. _

_... _

_ Caw! _

It was muffled, and distant, but caught his attention instantly. By the cliff, just off the base of one of the landing pads, a small shape of black soared up and above the docks. It flew over the sun, and Clover had to shade his brow with a hand to see it clearly. It stopped for just a moment— and took a dip straight down. Just before it could collide with the dock, the black bird flapped its wings and took a sharp turn up and forward.

Clover didn’t take his eyes off of him for a second. He watched as the crow flew around the area, in loops and in waves, in highs and in lows, making a personal stage out of the military airspace. After a while, he spiraled up one of the CCT support towers to perch on a hard-light ring. The bird sat completely still for a moment, before uttering another round of caws.

He was  _ definitely  _ looking straight down at him.

Clover chuckled, and a smirk crossed his face. “You know, no one likes a show-off!” he called up to him.

The bird, gaze still fixed downward, flapped its wings again, moving backward and behind the tower’s antenna. Just as quickly as it vanished, a figure stepped around it, one hand grasping the needle for support, and the other cheekily placed on his hip.

“You know, _ you’re  _ one to talk!” Qrow shouted down. “Remind me again who it was that swan dived into a Dust mine shaft?”

“Touché,” Clover admitted. “Well, what else have you got?”

Qrow, clearly still eager to brag, tapped his chin with his free hand. Then, stealing one more glance down, he released the grip from his other one. He let himself fall back, and disappeared off the top of the tower. 

It was at  _ least  _ a two-hundred foot drop. But sure enough, a black bird appeared from behind the tower, just short of the top, once again. Clover watched as it made a great leap even higher in the air, and stilled its wings as it took a dive. It had honed in so fast that Clover only had time to flinch when he’d realized the crow was soaring directly at him. Rather than an impact, though, he only felt a light breeze graze his side, and the sound of ruffled feathers suddenly from behind him.

As he turned around, Clover opened one tightly-shut eye, and then the other. The first thing he saw was none other than Qrow, lying on his side on a patch of grass, head propped up with one arm.

“I’ve got _skills,_ _that’s_ what.”

_ “Hmph.” _ Clover walked over to him, offering a hand to help him up. Before Qrow could take it, though, Clover gave him a sly smile. “A bit of hypocrisy, too.”

Qrow’s next moves were just as fast. A wide grin, a playful growl, and a single yank on his wrist brought Clover tumbling down onto the grass. He let out an  _ ooph!  _ as he landed on his front, which immediately turned into a hearty laugh that Qrow joined in on.

After he caught his breath again, Clover rolled over onto his back. “Well,” he clapped his hands, steadily. “Bravo.”

“Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week!” As Qrow sat up, he made a dramatic, theatrical gesture, leaning forward slightly in a bow, as if he were an actor completing his performance.

Clover let out a grunt as he sat himself up. “As entertaining as that was, though, it still doesn’t answer any questions.”

“Told ya’ already, there’s really nothing to it. How about  _ you _ give it a try?”

He sighed. “See, that’s the thing— I’ve been trying for  _ days _ now, ever since Ozpin first gave it to me, but I just... haven’t been able to. It’s like, I don’t know, there’s this big… mental block.”

Qrow patted him on the back. “If it makes you feel better, Raven and I couldn’t get it on our first tries, either.”

“Well, what was it like, then? Your first try?”

“Hmm, well…” Qrow layed back down onto the fresh patch of grass. He put both hands behind his head as he got comfortable, watching the sunlit clouds roll by overhead. “I remember when Ozpin first offered it to us,” he started. “He made it sound so  _ great, _ saying all this stuff about how we could ‘see more than we ever have’ and ‘be unburdened by our natural bodies’—”

_ “Hmph,  _ I for one happen to  _ like  _ your natural body.” Clover winked.

Qrow lightly kicked him in the shin, earning another laugh out of him. He rolled his eyes, but his poorly-hidden smile and the tint to his cheeks spoke for him. “A-Anyway, after that, we went straight to it. Practically pushing each other over to try to get in the air first. We went to this cliff above the Emerald Forest, where they trained us for our landing strategies. Let’s, uh, just say, it was a good thing we already  _ had  _ landing strategies.”

“So much for beginner’s luck, huh?”

_ “Heh,  _ you could say that again.” He raised one hand above his head, tracing out patterns in the shifting clouds. “Eventually, though, I was the first one to figure it out— and  _ gods,  _ it was just  _ amazing.  _ That view, the weightless feeling, the way the wind carried me around… but, uh, Rae probably would’ve killed me if I had to make her admit I won,” he chuckled. “Oh, and there  _ was  _ one other thing Oz said to us— something about, uh, my hand in a bush..?”

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” Clover quoted. “Something like that?”

Qrow sat back up to look at him. “Yeah... exactly.” 

“That’s the same thing he told me, but that‘s… strange of him to say.”

He raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“The lesson in that proverb, it says it's better to be content with what you have, rather than risk losing everything by trying to get something better— But, I have to disagree.”

“And, uh, why’s that?”

Clover was quiet for a moment as he pondered his words. When he finally did speak, it was in a much deeper, focused tone. “Why  _ shouldn’t  _ you take risks to try to better yourself? Sure, there’s always a  _ chance _ things could turn out bad— But if you don’t  _ try, _ if you don’t take those risks, face the things you fear… you’ll miss the chance to reach what could be something good. Even if it means taking a leap of faith first, and  _ then  _ finding your wings.” 

He had a certain look on his face— Clover had been staring off into space, but Qrow could still spot the determination in his eyes.

“A bird that doesn’t hatch just dies in its egg,” Qrow remarked. “That’s, uh, something Ruby told me once.”

Clover turned to look at him, his lips forming a small smile. “That’s quite a way to put it. I’d say your niece has got a fine set of wings of her own.” He leaned in a little, to look him in the eyes. “And just the bird to have helped her hatch.”

Qrow couldn’t hide his own smile at all, now. Any other time, he might’ve instinctively tried to look away in embarrassment at such a compliment, but he’d stayed drawn to those cool light greens.

Not losing sight of them for a second, Qrow stood up. “Alright,” he said, with a slight grunt of effort. He extended a hand, a genuine one, to his partner. “Let’s get  _ you  _ hatched, then.”

Clover nodded, his smile now at full width as he took Qrow’s hand. Qrow pulled him up to his feet, and closer to him. Once he had let go, he carefully let both his hands move behind Clover’s head. He was just a couple of inches taller than Qrow was— so, Qrow gently tilted his head forward, letting Clover’s forehead rest on his own. Clover let his own hands settle just above his hips.

“Try to focus on me.” Qrow’s already naturally gruff voice was even lower, just hardly above a whisper. Not a sound was made otherwise, other than a light wind that had picked up, slightly tossing his messy hair.

He closed his eyes, and Clover did the same. He felt Qrow’s chest rise and fall as he took deep, gentle breaths— he let his own fall into sync with his.

Qrow’s hands were a little cold, but Clover felt his face warm up in them. He sure hadn’t made it hard to focus on him, alright.

“Let's try to do it together, ‘kay?” As he spoke, Qrow eased his hands down and off of Clover’s face. “One… two…  _ three.” _

Right away, Clover heard the same flutter of his wings. This time, he actually felt them brush against his chest, before the sound and feeling both disappeared. He didn’t feel any different himself, but he still kept the stance Qrow had guided him into. He heard another distant caw, from somewhere above and in front of him— one of encouragement, maybe?

He kept his eyes shut, but the picture stayed in his mind. He imagined himself moving closer and closer to Qrow, even as he moved away. If a bird was known by its song, then Clover sought to follow his music.

It was definitely far away. Qrow often  _ felt _ far away, to him. The bird had left his hand— and so, Clover reached out for the bush.

“Hey, Clove!”

The voice he’d thought he’d been following suddenly came from under him. He snapped to attention, finding himself face-to-face with the intricate, starry details of the front gate’s ornate frieze.

_ Wait. _

“You know, you almost flew right into the window, there.” Thirty feet below him, Qrow crossed his arms, and flashed a devilish smirk up at him. “Rookie mistake,” he teased.

Clover had intended to let out a yelp of surprise, but the feeling only furthered when it came out as an awkward  _ croak. _

It was hard to see his reflection in the darkened window, just above him, but his bluish-green plumage shimmered brightly in the sunlight. He leaned forward a little to get a closer look— just close enough for his unfamiliar and admittedly rather large beak to collide with the window, sending his entire avian form staggering off balance.

Qrow, meanwhile, was roaring with laughter. “You—!” He wheezed. “You have a new center of gravity! It takes some getting used to!”

Clover wobbled about on the ledge with his new, tiny legs for a good moment, before finally trying to spread his wings to take off, only to make another strange  _ squawk— _ which turned into a much more familiar voice as he plummeted off the roof’s edge.

“Woah—! Gotcha!”

By the time Clover had registered the feeling of his own arms again, he found himself lying bridal-style in Qrow’s. He looked down at him with a smug look in his smile. Clover was completely speechless, and still dumbfounded even as Qrow set him back onto his feet.

_ “Heh,  _ not too bad for your first crack outta’ the egg.”

Clover let out a laughing breath, as he tried to catch it again. He placed a hand over his racing heart— only for it to skip a beat when he realized what was missing. 

The small, metallic badge that he’d always—  _ always _ kept right there above it, was suddenly nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, lookin’ for  _ this?”  _

A light jingling sound caught his attention. Qrow, still snickering in amusement, dangled the very same four-leafed charm between his fingers. 

_ “Hah… _ H-How— How did you—?”

“Snagged it right as I took off,” he explained. “Wanted to, uh, test something, and it worked.” Qrow fixed the pin back onto Clover’s lapel. “That wasn’t  _ luck _ that got you up there.” After it was secured again, he let his hand rest on his collar, and looked back up at him. “That was all  _ you.” _

Clover met his soft gaze. The look he gave him, right there, and that adorable grin on his handsome face, it was all worth  _ far _ more than just a holding hand. If anything, it was priceless.

“And also— well, bird instincts.” Qrow pocketed his hands as they started back down the front steps. Surely there was still time for another go at it. “It was just so shiny, I couldn’t resist.”

Clover wagged his eyebrows. “Ooh, you couldn’t resist me, huh?”

_ “H-Hey!” _


End file.
